TPV Podcast, Episode 131: Liver Health

On this episode of The Paleo View, Stacy and Sarah kick off a new series on the show – Paleo myth busting, and focus on the topic of liver health.

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About The Paleo View Podcast Production Team

The Paleo View Podcast is co-hosted by Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, PhD (aka The Paleo Mom) and Stacy Toth, bestselling co-author of Real Life Paleo and Beyond Bacon, and co-creator of RealEverything.com. Matthew McCarry (the other half of RealEverything.com) produces the podcast. Our team members also help with various aspects of production, like the creation of these Show Notes and shareable graphics.

Reader Interactions

Comments

Hi Sarah, can you address whether dandelion root tea is good, bad, or neutral for the liver? I drink it as my hot morning beverage since giving up daily caffeine and I know it’s a pretty popular coffee substitute in the Paleo community. It’s commonly claimed that it supports liver function but is it possible it only supports one phase of liver detoxification and therefore may not be great for daily consumption? Thanks in advance for any information you can provide!

There is a modest collection of papers showing that dandelion root is hepatoprotective, meaning that is protect the liver cells from damage (it’s studied in a few different models of liver damage in mice and rats, like toxin exposure, acetaminophen overdose, and alcohol). The mechanisms seem to be it’s antioxidant properties. I couldn’t find any scientific papers that showed it helps with liver detox specifically.

After a month of strict Paleo, my AST and ALT went up and my cholesterol stayed very high. I’m concerned that Paleo is dangerous for me. I’m wondering if it’s a meat to veggie ratio issue- or just too much meat for my body.

O.K. , this podcast is seriously helpful! I really appreciate the explanation about how the liver functions, as every other one always left me wondering how it all connected. Thanks for the step-by-step!

Several questions come to mind:

1. Can the liver majorly contribute to raised estrogens?

2. Did I hear right that milk thistle helps stage 1 & 2 of liver detox?

3. Can milk thistle be estrogenic to some people? ( Please debunk this if it’s a myth! )

4. Can grapefruit be a Bad idea for some people’s livers? I’ve personally had problems with it and have read contradictory information. Another myth, or something else?

Thanks so much Stacy and Sarah, for doing this topic! I stayed up late just to listen .(Oops, now you know! ) Love to hear these thoughts addressed because no one seems to talk about them…esp. with the level of quality information you’re sharing.

One more off-topic question: I don’t know if I’m FODmap, but one thing making it hard to verify is that I don’t seem to react to the same things all the time. Also, is it possible that people can react to one fructan- filled item and not to another one ? The list is helpful, but I’m wondering if people react some of the time and not all the time, or to some of the foods ( with say, fructose ) but not to all of them. Is this scientifically possible with intestinal overgrowth? Would love to hear a podcast on this !

Oh, and I Have to personally Thank YOU for debunking the coffee enema thing. I didn’t want to avoid something that could be great my body, but it was just too, too…! 😉

Here’s another one I wish you would explore: Does topical ( not internal ) castor oil, rubbed over or used as a warm pack over the liver, Really help to detoxify? Myth?

I noticed you mentioned acetyl-l-carnitine in the second stage of liver detox. I tried using a supplement once and had one of the so-called rare ‘possible side effects’. Perhaps it put the detox pattern out of balance, but interestingly the warnings are for those with hypothyroid. Is there some connection/dichotomy I’m missing between the liver’s needs and thyroid function?

These are just thoughts that came to mind and putting them out there to ponder. Thanks again for a GREAT podcast!

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